VT for 45 minutes

Day 641.

Just when I get comfortable with my health and the rhythms of my condition, my heart decides to throw a wobbly.

Yesterday morning I was having a cup of tea with the husband. At 7:14 AM a pain gripped my heart and I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. I immediately thought: I'm having VT (ventricular tachycardia).

I grabbed my husband's arm in pain and kept waiting for my ICD to kick in. Nothing happened, so I ran a quick ECG on my Fitbit watch to see if I was imagining it. What an idiotic thought. I definitely wasn't imagining the pain that by now was causing me to drip with sweat.

Getting help from the ambulance

I called the ambulance almost immediately. Wellington Free Ambulance paramedics were at my house within 10 minutes. What a lovely crew they were, as usual.

They confirmed the VT arrhythmia with a 12-lead ECG. I had an IV put in my hand, and my veins were tricky as usual. After about 30 minutes my blood pressure started dropping and the paramedics put the paddles on me. They fetched the Ketamine from the ambulance and were getting ready to cardiovert me to reset my heart. Finally after about 45 minutes, my ICD kicked in. I had 2 pacing bursts from my ICD, saving me from a shock.

I was loaded onto the ambulance pretty quickly after that. The paramedics didn't want me to walk very far, and our quite steep driveway was really wet from the rain. So my husband loaded me and the one paramedic in our car and drove us down to the ambulance from the house. It was hilarious!

Visiting the Emergency Department

Arriving at the hospital, I was triaged and placed into a room for monitoring. My nurse was lovely. She showed real concern. I don't take that for granted. My vitals were okay, although my heart rate was much lower than normal and my blood pressure was also too low.

I saw the emergency department (ED) doctor. She asked me a few questions and then almost immediately asked me if I felt well enough to leave. I was concerned that I would be sent away without having my ICD checked and settings adjusted. I don't want to have VT for 45 minutes again if it can be helped.

Sanity prevailed, and the ICD technician came to see me. I think the official job title is cardiac physiologist. He was great and talked me through the whole episode from what he could see on the monitor.

My heart went into a VT rhythm that fluctuated between 140 and 158 beats per minute (bpm). My ICD pacing zone was set to start at 167 bpm. That is why it didn't kick in for so long. My ICD's pacing zone was lowered to 150.

Surprisingly, the cardiology registrar also came to see me. I had a good conversation with him. He said they are worried it might be the sarcoidosis being active again. If I have another VT I will be sent for a new PET scan. I asked him why my heart rate is getting lower and lower over time. He said he believes it is my medication. I asked him if there is anything we could do to avoid more VT. He said that this is the cards that I have been dealt and a procedure (ablation, I believe) would be really invasive.

I was discharged by around 4 PM. I had a really expensive taxi ride home.

How do I feel now?

I am weary of this. The whole thing. The whole experience. I would like to get on with my life and not worry about what is going to happen next. I am worried that my job will become irritated with my constant hospital visits.

I am physically tired. I'm not sure if that is from the medication or the strain my heart was under. Or maybe just from stress.

I feel powerless. Like there is nothing I can do. This is just my life now.